Delray Beach's annual Pride Festival will go on, but city officials worried about finances
DELRAY BEACH — As the LGBTQ+ community faces serious financial and political trouble for its festivals and parades, Palm Beach County has started to feel the rising temperature of it all.
In March, Julie Seaver, the executive director of Compass Community Center, the organizer of Lake Worth Beach's two-day Pride extravaganza, said the center's finances could take a significant hit if the federal government pulls back on grant funding that helps pay for its work providing health-care testing and other programming for those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Now, in Delray Beach, after a heated discussion in early April to potentially defund the annual Pride Festival and Concert in June, the city will continue sponsoring the event — for now.
Delray Beach officials discussed removing the annual festival from the list of city-sponsored events. When the item was discussed, Commissioner Juli Casale expressed concern about publicly backing the event, saying it could result in losing state appropriations.
"Everybody wants to go ahead with this event. We just don't want there to be financial repercussions on our residents," Casale said.
But then she claimed that the city's lobbyist, Mat Forrest, had warned in a private call about sponsoring the event, citing concerns about the Republican-led Legislature.
"People are watching," Casale said Forrest told her. "And I would be mindful of what's going on when you're asking for money."
Deputy Vice Mayor Angela Burns and Vice Mayor Rob Long opposed defunding the event.
"It's hard not to see this proposal to single out this event as anything but suspicious, given the broader national and statewide political climate right now, at a time when LGBTQ+ communities are under increasing attack," Long said.
"It sends the wrong message for Delray Beach to even consider or even talk about pulling our modest support for an event that celebrates inclusion, pride and community spirit."
In an email to the city's commission the following day, Forrest, the lobbyist, said he had "no opinion on what events the city should or should not sponsor."
"The State will not support organizations that it feels are using government funds to support programs, events, etc. that are inconsistent with the policies of the State of Florida," Forrest's email said. "I also think the City is free to sponsor any event that it feels is consistent with the policies of the City of Delray Beach even if it might impact the allocation of State funds to the City."
Getting additional corporate support could prove challenging in the current political climate.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump have attacked diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government and private industry. They argue that such programs shift focus away from merit while supporters see them as important efforts to make sure people from marginalized communities are included in job candidate pools and that their views are taken into account as policy is formulated.
Delray Beach currently produces 21 annual events. These include its Boat Parade, St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival, 100-Foot Christmas Tree Lighting, July 4th celebration and Holiday Parade.
The city's special events are estimated to cost $951,000. The Pride Festival and Concert makes up $20,000, or about 2%, of that.
RELATED: Lake Avenue decorated in rainbows to honor Palm Beach Pride
RELATED: Lake Worth Beach's Pride Weekend a celebration, but with concerns ahead
"Because of your last meeting, and the agenda item in regards to trying to annihilate the Pride Festival, it galvanized more support for it," Delray Beach resident Steve English said at the April 8 meeting. "That showed this community, and all the people that have talked about economic development, if we want to tarnish or ruin our reputational capital, be designated as a discriminatory, non-welcoming, non-inclusive spot."
The next time the commission will discuss the city's special events is May 6. This year's Pride Festival and Concert is scheduled for June 14.
Staff Writer Wayne Washington contributed to this report.
Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Delray Beach considers defunding its Pride Festival
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